A C a n d i d C o n v e r s at i o n W i t h C a r m e l’ s M ay o r :
On Managing a City During Pandemic Writer // Janelle Morrison • Photography // Staff
Earlier this month, the City of Carmel announced the development of the Reconnecting Carmel Task Force that consists of business leaders and health care professionals and is chaired by Deborah Wood, CEO of DWA Healthcare Communications Groups. The mission of the task force is to advise the mayor on the implementation of Gov. Holcomb’s five stage as “We begin to reconnect as a community.”
T
he plan is for future meetings to take place prior to each successive phase outlined by Gov. Holcomb and then periodically to review ongoing issues as best practices are implemented. The task force may also be asked to meet if COVID-19 cases spike or there is a major new scientific discovery that impacts the reconnecting process. We spoke with Mayor Brainard about his thoughts on reopening parts of the city—as per Gov. Holcomb’s five-stage plan—his thoughts about how Congress could be assisting local governments and his thoughts on managing the city during a pandemic versus during the financial downturn of 2008.
Practicing “Physical Distancing,” Not Social Distancing Mayor Brainard refers to the recommended 6 feet of distance [between humans] as “physical distancing,” so we asked him why. “I’m referring to it as ‘physical distancing,’ not social distancing, because we’re trying to connect people socially and virtually in lots of ways,” Brainard said. “This requires a lot of public education. We’re talking about actual physical distancing. We have to assume that
each of us is asymptomatic or presymptomatic, carrying the [COVID-19] virus. Obviously, we will continue to have more cases identified because we are testing a greater number of people, but that is not the data point that we want to look at. We want to look at the data points that show: 14 days of declining hospital admissions [COVID-19 related] and less than 5%
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asymptomatic spread [active COVID-19 cases] within the Carmel community, and we’re not there yet.” Brainard continued, “So, we need to be very careful as we reopen or we will be in a much worse position with a second wave, and the governor would have to consider going back on his order and I may have to draw back. I hope we don’t have to do that, but as Gov. Holcomb said, the guidance is not to restrict ‘liberty but to save lives.’ We have a responsibility in our elected positions to do what we can to keep people safe. That is the No. 1 responsibility we have as elected leaders in this time.” As the city continues to work with medical and scientific experts, state government and its public safety agencies to provide current information to the residents and business members of Carmel, the mayor is asking this from the public. “I’m calling on the community to do the right things. There is a lot of science out there that tells the story. and while young and [seemingly] healthy people can carry it, by not wearing a mask, they can infect dozens of other people who may then infect more people. and it could result in somebody’s death. Wearing a mask is not about protecting you as it is about protecting somebody else.”
MAY 2020
2020-05-14 3:34 PM
